Kevin Phillips will return to The Hawthorns this weekend claiming that he has proven Albion wrong - five years after they released him.

The 40-year-old Crystal Palace man is making what he predicts will be his final ever visit to Albion as a footballer.

Phillips was a part of the 2008 Championship title-winning side under Tony Mowbray.

Despite scoring 24 goals during that campaign, the striker was allowed to walk away from the club - signing for Blues and helping them to their promotion 12 months later.

One of the reasons for Phillips’ departure was a reluctance for Albion to give him a two year deal.

The Baggies only offered him a 12-month contract, with an extra one-year deal offered only on the condition that he played a certain number of games. Albion’s reasoning at the time was a concern over Phillips’ knee.

Phillips has played some 150 games since 2008 - with a spell at Blackpool preceding his time at Palace - which he believes proves Albion were wrong to give up on him.

Kevin Phillips scores for West Brom

He also feels some regret that Tony Mowbray, Albion boss at the time, did not do more to force the club’s hand.

In the event, Phillips left and Albion were relegated by just three points the following year.

“I never wanted to leave West Brom - you can ask my family that, we were happy and I was settled,” said Phillips, who still lives in Staffordshire.

“Winning the title was one of the best moments of my career and we should have also got to the FA Cup final that year (2008) too.

“The two years were unbelievable so it’s such a shame how it ended - which was very, very disappointing on a personal level.

“I can understand the club’s concerns at the time but I think I have proven them wrong - here I am, now 40, playing in the Premier League.

“I’ve spoken to Tony Mowbray since and he probably feels he should have pushed more for the club to give me that two year deal.

“He could have backed my corner a bit because it was a crazy period at the time - by the time the club had made their final offer I would only have needed to play about nine games to get my second year. Why not just give me the two year deal in the first place?

“I know my knee was fine but the club were stubborn and that’s a great shame. You never know how things might have worked out but I feel I could have scored enough goals to keep Albion up the following year.”

Phillips continued: “I’m looking forward to going back. I know it’s my last time back as a player and it’ll be nice to say my ‘goodbyes’ to the fans. They were always good to me when I played.”